I'm a frontline police inspector, overseeing teams of officers dealing with a range of investigations. According to one estimate, 15% of all police activity has an element of mental health involved. It might be related to domestic violence, or shoplifting, or people absconding from a mental health unit.

The police often have to decide whether a person needs to be taken for assessment by mental health professionals. In the West Midlands around 1,000 people a year are detained in this way – that's three people a day. The professionalism and commitment of NHS staff is admirable.

In emergencies the NHS works very well but it can be frustrating and confusing. It took me 18 months to understand that the PCT commissions the services from the mental health trust.

The NHS reorganises all the time, so just when you get your head around it, it changes again. As a police officer, I do not have a view on the health and social care bill.